ECONOMY: Jobless rates rise in San Diego and Riverside counties

Seasonal employment losses contribute to January figures

The jobless rate in January rose to 11 percent in San Diego
County and 15 percent in the Riverside-San Bernardino county region
as holiday season jobs ended and most other job categories fell,
the state Employment Development Department said Wednesday.

The unemployment rate in San Diego County was 10.3 percent in
December and 8.4 percent in January a year ago. In Riverside and
San Bernardino counties, the jobless rate was 14.1 in December and
11.5 percent in January 2009.

Trade, transportation and utilities lost 4,700 jobs in January
in San Diego County. Hotels, food services and entertainment and
refreshment businesses cut 4,000 jobs, the EDD said.

Trade, transportation and utility employment also fell in
Riverside and San Bernardino counties ---- 7,700 jobs were lost,
the EDD said.

For the year, the education and health services category in both
counties was the only one of 12 categories to post gains.

"We have lived on borrowed money ---- so has the whole country,
but we (in Riverside County) more than others," he said. "What we
called prosperity for the last 10 years was a bubble."

Gaffney said "basic tax reforms" such as lowering the payroll
tax and finding other sources of revenue are needed to get the
regional economy moving again.

Dan Seiver, finance professor at San Diego State University,
said the January EDD numbers were "not good," but nonetheless he
was a bit more upbeat.

"California is still lagging the rest of the country, but I see
a turnaround at the national level, and I think we will feel that
in California and San Diego County by fall," he said. "The economy
is moving forward. Businesses have cut payrolls enormously and will
start hiring later this year."

Federal data released last week showed California's jobless rate
was 12.5 percent in January; the national rate was 9.7 percent.

At 10.8 percent, the West had the highest regional unemployment
rate, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which
ranked California's jobless rate fifth highest in the nation.

Michigan led the nation in January with an unemployment rate of
14.3 percent, followed by Nevada and Rhode Island.